Join BikeWalkKC’s Policy Team for a hands-on, interactive seven-week crash course on Complete Streets. The weekly course includes seven distinct sessions, each of which build upon each other:

Session 1 – Introduction to Active Transportation (Thursday, May 10, 6-8 p.m.)
What is your vision for a better streetscape? In this introductory session,we’ll begin to imagine what that would entail. We’ll outline the series and how active transportation efforts can mold us into advocates! Our guest speaker from the city will explain why this work matters. After examining some high-level information about the Northeast, we’ll finish with an interactive community SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

Session 2 – Identifying the Problem (Thursday, May 17, 6-8 p.m.)
What is the problem in your community, with regards to active transportation? For this session, we’ll work to clearly identify what it is. After reviewing the SWOT analysis, we’ll delve into the process for identifying an issue. The rest of the session will be devoted to group activities: first, we’ll work to unpack the barriers to active transportation in the community, then we’ll drill down and identify several potential issues with a real opportunity for change, and finally we’ll choose an issue to focus on. This choice will guide our subsequent sessions.

Session 3 – Built Environment Design (Thursday, May 24, 6-8 p.m.)
What does a good built environment look like? In the third session, we will identify the components that make this possible. The primary discussion for the evening will center on elements of Complete Streets design and how the implementation of these changes can foster greater active transportation. Our group activity will largely flow from this: having defined the projects and understanding what options are available, participants will decide what needs to be done.

Session 4 – Built Environment Toolbox (Thursday, May 31, 6-8 p.m.)
What resources does a community have to effect change to the built environment? With this in mind, we begin the fourth session of the workshop series. Our guest speaker for the evening will detail the process for how advocates can approach the city with potential solutions. This will lead into a discussion of what tools are available to address the barriers. Our group activity will center on framing the issue, more specifically how to explain your proposal and methods to draw interest in the proposal.

Session 5 – Identifying Campaign Targets (Thursday, June 7, 6-8 p.m.)
You have a problem and issue identified, but how do you marshall the resources into an effective campaign? In the fifth session, participants will begin to formulate a real push for the change they wish to see. The session will begin with identifying what they hope to accomplish with their campaign. Our group activities will focus on laying the groundwork for the campaign: first, we’ll assess the resources that are needed to pursue the campaign. Second, we’ll conduct some power mapping, or identifying the people whose support we need and who can influence their decision.

Session 6 – Your Campaign’s Message (Thursday, June 14, 6-8 p.m.)
You know what you want, but how do you say it? In this session we’ll work on messaging for the campaign. More specifically, we’ll identify and begin to work on key talking points. Yet a successful campaign also requires assistance, and so we’ll delve into community mobilization and coalition building as a group. Finally, we’ll spend some time working on the timeline for the campaign, from start to finish.

Session 7 – Tactical Training (Thursday, June 21, 6-8 p.m.)
Campaigns take time, so what can the community do in the meantime? In our final session, we’ll explore temporary changes that can help you build the case for more permanent fixes to the built environment. Our guest speaker will detail how these temporary interventions can and have worked elsewhere in Kansas City. We’ll conclude the series with a discussion of some of the designs, data collection methods, and tools that can be used.